Lexington man faces multiple child pornography charges

A Lexington man who served as a public address announcer at Central Davidson High School basketball and softball games was arrested Thursday and charged with possessing child pornography.

BY DARRICK IGNASIAKThe Dispatch

A Lexington man who served as a public address announcer at Central Davidson High School basketball and softball games was arrested Thursday and charged with possessing child pornography.Donald Stuart Koontz, 51, of 503 Queens Drive, was charged with 10 counts of felony disseminating obscenity and 10 counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. He was placed in the Davidson County Detention Center under a $2,025,000 secured bond and given a court date of Sept. 24 in Lexington District Court.Vice and narcotics units of the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office and Lexington and Thomasville police departments along with members of the North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement Agency and Department of Homeland Security Investigations executed a search warrant at Koontz’ home Thursday, according to a sheriff’s office press release. The warrant was for the downloading of child pornography from the residence via the Internet.The child pornography included children whose ages were estimated to be in the range of 6-14, according to arrest warrants. They indicated the offense dates were between July 9 and Thursday.During the investigation, detectives seized computers, hard drives and other data storage devices containing numerous pornographic images involving children, the release said.Sheriff David Grice said he couldn’t comment when asked if there was any impact with children locally.Kevin Hudson, the athletic director at Central Davidson, declined to comment and referred questions to central office administrators.“Mr. Koontz was a volunteer announcer,” Dr. Fred Mock, superintendent of Davidson County Schools, said. “To my knowledge, he didn’t have any immediate contact with students in his volunteer role. That’s about all I can say at this time. With these pending charges, we certainly don’t want to use him as a volunteer.” Koontz was also a booking agents for officials for recreation, high school and travel sports.Charles Parnell, director of Davidson County Parks and Recreation, said Koontz is not an employee of Davidson County and has only been a contractor for maintenance work. Parnell said he was unsure if the contractual work would continue after the charges.A jail spokesman said late Friday afternoon that Koontz remained in the custody of the Davidson County Detention Center. Should he post bond, court documents state these stipulations:“Do not be in the presence of or associate with in any form, any person/child under the age of 18,” the court document reads. “Do not be on the property of any school anywhere at any time. Do not go about the property of any recreation department at any time.”

Darrick Ignasiak can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 217, or darrick.ignasiak@the-dispatch.com.